The great books have never been more accessible, yet we live in a moment increasingly drawn away from their content and demand. Though their power to transform remains immediate and available, many lack the patience or the orientation required to become thoroughly acquainted with the minds of antiquity. To read the classics is not simply to encounter old ideas, but to step beyond the assumptions of one’s own age and embrace a broader conversation about truth, meaning, and the human condition.
In this installment of the Career and Life Conversations series, Dr Spencer Klavan joins Ralston College Fellow Connor Livingston for a dialogue on philosophy as a way of life. Together they explore the enduring relevance of ancient texts, the relationship between philosophy and religion, and the integration of embodiment and reason within the Western intellectual tradition. Moving from Athens to Jerusalem, from Plato and Aristotle to Paul and the Christian inheritance, the conversation considers how wisdom is cultivated not only through study, but through practices that shape attention, desire, and the whole person.
Alongside these reflections, the discussion turns toward contemporary questions, including the challenges posed by artificial intelligence and the conditions necessary for deep learning in a distracted age. Throughout, we are invited to reconsider what it means to pursue wisdom today, offering both philosophical depth and practical insight for those seeking deeper bearings in a culture that holds utility above understanding and information over formation.
